Operate pellet stove from an inverter

My son has a pellet stove, and it is great except for when they lose power. This sometimes is for days, and when it happens during the Winter we can u sually count on seeing them over here for the duration of the outage. It's always nice to have them visit but I would like to help them to be more sel f sufficient if possible.

He tells me that during startup the ignitor requires 500watts, but once the thing is cranking, the blower and auger take about 250watts. If this were to run off an inverter though I don't know what the 12volt side would requi re. I have a 2000VA UPS that is not being used right now. It uses 5 12volt

7AH batteries. If I used 5 sealed group 24 or larger automotive type batter ies and except for the initial 500watt startup demand I am drawing approxim ately one quarter maximum continuous load, the inverter shouldn't overheat and therefore should be able to run continuously. Given this scenario, can anyone venture a guess as to how long he'll be able to run the stove before the batteries drop to the point that the inverter shuts down? Thanks, Lenn y
Reply to
captainvideo462009
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Too many variables. The devil is in the details...

Many UPS systems are designed to run your computer just long enough to shut it down. Running it at 1/4 load helps, but it is CRITICALLY dependent on the specific design.

What's the inverter voltage? 5 batteries is an odd number, but the likely voltage is 12V, not 60V.

I'd go with deep cycle batteries. A 100AH 12V battery is 1200 watt-hours. If the inverter is very efficient and the batteries are new, you'll get 4-hours run time per battery. To run it for 4 days, you'll need

24 batteries. If it doesn't run continuously, you should have stated that and factor that in...details...

And do you really want to sit around for 4 days in the dark watching the stove and smelling the stuff rotting in the fridge?

Get a generator.

Reply to
mike

They really need to market natgas generators better. Storing large amounts of gasoline is dangerous.

Reply to
dave

The blower on my gas furnace is about 300 watts. Starter is minimal. With a

120 AHR battery, I could get about 4 hours running time, but that's a bit too long for good battery life. Powered off solar, which is not going to recoup in one sunny day.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

On Sunday, September 22, 2013 1:18:13 PM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrot e:

r. This sometimes is for days, and when it happens during the Winter we can usually count on seeing them over here for the duration of the outage. It' s always nice to have them visit but I would like to help them to be more s elf sufficient if possible.

he thing is cranking, the blower and auger take about 250watts. If this wer e to run off an inverter though I don't know what the 12volt side would req uire. I have a 2000VA UPS that is not being used right now. It uses 5 12vol t 7AH batteries. If I used 5 sealed group 24 or larger automotive type batt eries and except for the initial 500watt startup demand I am drawing approx imately one quarter maximum continuous load, the inverter shouldn't overhea t and therefore should be able to run continuously. Given this scenario, ca n anyone venture a guess as to how long he'll be able to run the stove befo re the batteries drop to the point that the inverter shuts down? Thanks, Le nny

Not sure about the bigger batteries. But 5 x 12V @ 7AH is

5*12 = 60 V * 7 A *3600 seconds ~ 1.5 x10^6 joules. Divided by 250 watts is about 6000 seconds, a little less than two hours, (assuming 100% effici ency)

As Mike said, get a generator. George H.

Reply to
ggherold

250 Watts continuous is a VERY heavy load for a 12 V system. At 100% efficiency that is a 21 A load, and will empty a car battery in little more than an hour. A big trolling motor deep-cycle battery could run it for a couple hours. So, you need a HUGE bank of batteries, and most likely a more than 12 V inverter system.

Your UPS system has 12 V * 7 AH * 5 = 420 WH. Well, that will run the stove for about an hour, given typical efficiencies of these units, and assuming the batteries are in new condition.

I think it may make a lot more sense to get a small gas generator. Then, you can keep food cold in the refrigerator, charge cell phones, etc. You run the generator for 90 minutes every 12 hours or something like that.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

power. This sometimes is for days, and when it happens during the Winter we can usually count on seeing them over here for the duration of the outage. It's always nice to have them visit but I would like to help them to be more self sufficient if possible.

once the thing is cranking, the blower and auger take about 250watts. If this were to run off an inverter though I don't know what the 12volt side would require. I have a 2000VA UPS that is not being used right now. It uses 5 12volt 7AH batteries. If I used 5 sealed group 24 or larger automotive type batteries and except for the initial 500watt startup demand I am drawing approximately one quarter maximum continuous load, the inverter shouldn't overheat and therefore should be able to run continuously. Given this scenario, can anyone venture a guess as to how long he'll be able to run the stove before the batteries drop to the point that the inverter shuts down? Thanks, Lenny

watts is about 6000 seconds, a little less than two hours, (assuming 100% efficiency)

Feeding the generator with fuel for 4 days is no joke either. Even at a hopelessly low fuel consumption of 1 gal/Hr that is about 100 gallon of fuel. Decently useful size backup generators require huge fuel tanks for a few days of continuous operation.

?-)

Reply to
josephkk

A propane or natural gas powered generator makes more sense if there really are that many failures. Or, maybe run an invertor from your car battery a nd generator, easy enough to do if you keep your car gassed up when weather is threatening and you have a place to park the car outside close enough t o the house for a reasonable number of extension cords from the generator s o you don't have too large a voltage drop.

Reply to
hrhofmann

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